Close to three years after it emerged that the Danish state had been defrauded to the tune of 12 billion kroner in reimbursed taxes, the SKAT tax authority looks to be making its first big move in the case.

According to the judicial news site Law 360, 71 individuals and companies from the UK are being sued for taking part in the huge swindle. SKAT reportedly filed 71 lawsuits at the High Court in London in late July.

The suits reveal that SKAT is also turning to legal proceedings in a bid to force two banks, Barclays and NatWest, to reveal information regarding customers who are believed to be involved in the case.

“These suits underline that this alleged swindle has been mostly organised by operators using London as their base,” Thomas Svaneborg, a DR business journalist, told DR Nyheder.

“There are some very big, well known players in the middle of this case.

READ MORE: US pension funds involved in billion kroner SKAT fraud

Swindler Shah
“It’s from London that the British businessman Sanjay Shah has operated his company Solo Capital,” continued Svaneborg.

Shah is believed to be the man behind the fraud and today he reportedly lives a life of luxury in Dubai. Shah’s now-closed Solo Capital offered small US pension firms aggressive financial products that speculated on the Danish state coffers.

When a Danish company pays dividends to its shareholders, SKAT keeps 27 percent, but if the shares are owned by foreign shareholders, the 27 percent can be refunded.

But SKAT’s control of the refunding system was virtually non-existent and Solo Capital sent in false dividends reimbursement papers and ended up defrauding the Danish state out of almost 13 billion kroner before the swindle was discovered in the summer of 2015.

Aside from the UK, SKAT has also filed suits against people and companies in the US, Canada, Luxembourg and Malaysia. About 2.7 billion kroner has already been seized from accounts abroad, including in Germany.